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PurposeThis paper seeks to utilise Prahalad's five activities of co‐creation (customer engagement, self‐service, customer involvement, problem‐solving, and co‐design) to explore how value co‐creation occurs in the context of a public‐transport service provider.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a single qualitative case study of the Swiss federal railway operator (SBB).FindingsThe findings enrich understanding of value co‐creation by showing that the case firm is not merely a value facilitator, but has increasingly become a value co‐creator through the five co‐creation activities noted above. Organisations should take a comprehensive view of value co‐creation if they are to exploit its full strategic potential.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is a single case study with a focus on the supplier perspective.Practical implicationsPublic‐transport operators should facilitate the active participation of customers in designing and implementing their processes and systems. Rather than relying on knowledge about the customers, customer‐relationship management should be based on knowledge of the customers (that is, the knowledge that customers possess).Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive framework to help organisations manage the value co‐creation process. The study shows that a public‐transport service provider is not restricted to making value propositions, but can actively influence and assist customers in their fulfilment of value‐co‐creation.

Purpose -The aim of the present paper is to study what effect CSR has had on the practice of organizations. Design/methodology/approach -Since the effects of CSR on practice are an understudied topic the paper adopts a single case study design and studies Swedbank. Theoretically the paper approaches the problematic from the perspective of neo institutional theory and stakeholder theory. Findings -If CSR approaches colonize organisational practice, a fundamental shift from a shareholder strategy, to a social harmony strategy may be experienced, i.e. that the current focus on shareholder needs in contemporary organizations is balanced with the needs of other stakeholders. CSR adoption is surprisingly high at Swedbank and the paper thus argues that CSR might change the practice of organizations toward social harmony.Research limitations/implications -The case study design does not make possible empirical generalizations. Therefore, further research should focus on generalizing the findings. Further research might also conduct case studies by using the adoption framework in other empirical settings. Originality/value -The paper offers new insight on of the adoption of CSR in organizations and connects this issue to stakeholder theory. Additionally, framing the adoption of CSR from an institutional perspective is also novel.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Sustainability can be assessed in the dimensions Profit, Planet and People. A problem with the approach is that these dimensions cannot be added. Another problem is that performance seldom is related to global system boundaries. The purpose of this paper is to study the "what" of sustainability by linking this to global boundaries and proposing "how" the authors could manage change toward sustainability. Design/methodology/approach -Sustainability definitions are reviewed to identify main stakeholders. People value defined as utility is compared to Planet harm as carbon emissions and People harm as prices of products. This approach is examined in business studying the global processes of housing, transporting, providing food and cement manufacturing. Findings -The relative indicators with focus on People utility compare to Planet and People harm seem to be relevant for measuring the level of sustainability. The Crippled Bottom Line of People value/ Planet harm and People value/Planet harm is proposed as the "what" to measure and the change process of "understanding-defining-measuring-communicating-leading change" is proposed as the "how" to change.Research limitations/implications -The research is based on identifying the main stakeholders based on sustainability definitions and from that point mostly on deductive reasoning. Practical implications -The practical implications are that organizations could define sustainability indicators with objectives that are linked to global limits. Social implications -Advocating the use of price as a social indicator could have social implications. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the discussion of how to link global limits to organizational measurements and targets.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of transcendence as business logic and to advance value co-creation and value network thinking. The authors are looking for business logic to have wider understanding of sustainable business. Understanding how value is “networked” and “co-created” by what the authors will call “transcendent business logic” in specific contextual settings is deemed essential in securing sustainable business, which social and environmental perspectives and governance issues are embedded. The authors lay the foundation for enriching the transcendence for business logics for a sustainable business based on sustainability, stakeholder-unifying perspective and value creation network theories. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a qualitative approach, using multiple case studies to undertake an analysis of the role of transcendence for business logics. Four case studies of private companies and parallel case studies of retail, health care and public organizations (regional public transport networks) are applied. The paper further asses a methodological approach goes beyond the positivistic paradigm in service research to understand the texts and analyze the research materials. This section presents the methodological approach based on transcendence beyond objectivism and relativism and the transformation process of transcendence business logic. Findings – The paper demonstrates that “different business logics” contributes to securing sustainable business embedded on social and environmental perspectives on governance issues. The authors have shown this based on the idea of transcendence, which can be used from a methodological point of view based on a deeper understanding beyond objectivism and relativism. The authors argued in this paper for a methodological path beyond functionalism. The authors are providing a deeper understanding of the business logic; co-creating value for people and developing sustainability for society. The study has also shown that values form the network, and co-creation is the basis for transcending the business logics. Originality/value – The paper makes original contribution to the exploring transcendence for business logics to be in lieu of guiding open source business models based on the need for understanding of the new logic in the new complex landscape. In service research, the main theoretical challenges of understand and integrating value co-creation and value networks to secure sustainable businesses are founded on the principles of steering and navigation. In this study the authors addressed the need for advancement of value co-creation network thinking and perusal for the business logic to have a wider understanding of sustainable business.